Women represent 47% of the U.S. workforce—and unfortunately, around 1 in 8 women will be diagnosed with some form of breast cancer in their lifetime.
With October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month, now is an opportune time to redirect your benefits engagement strategy to highlight the importance of basic screenings, spread awareness around breast health, and support the patients and survivors in your very own workforce.
Leveraging your voluntary benefits to aid in cancer prevention, screening, and treatment not only has the potential to save lives—it also furthers business outcomes by boosting engagement, productivity, and retention.
But what is your role in spreading awareness about breast cancer, and how can a wellness platform aid in early prevention and detection?
Life with the Ribbon: Understanding Signs, Symptoms, and Risk Factors
Employees need to know their organizations have them covered through all of life's ups and downs. Whether workers are in the midst of breast cancer treatment or are taking preventive action early on, it's important to regularly circulate information about signs, symptoms, and risk factors to keep awareness alive.
By gaining this crucial understanding, employees from all walks of life can catch hidden symptoms before they become serious diagnoses. And, rather than take a reactive approach to breast health and wellbeing, workforces can remain proactive, preventive, and persistent about their own self care and treatment.
Breast Cancer Awareness Starter Kit: Risk Factors and Symptoms
When educating workforces on the early signs and symptoms of breast cancer, it’s important to understand that the risk for developing breast cancer can change over time due to a wide range of factors, including:
- Being assigned female at birth
- Age
- Race and ethnicity
- Inherited genes, such as BRCA1 and BRCA2
- Family history of breast or ovarian cancer
- Previous breast cancer diagnosis
Many employees may also be unaware that certain lifestyle factors can lead to a higher risk of developing breast cancer. These lifestyle factors can include:
- Never having been pregnant
- Giving birth for the first time after the age of 30
- Smoking and/or drinking
In addition to sharing information on risk factors, consider dedicating one section of your employee wellness portal to highlighting specific physical symptoms to be aware of in the early detection of breast cancer. While lumps in breast tissue are some of the most common signs, there are many other symptoms that often go undetected, including:
- Swelling without a defined lump
- Consistent pain or skin irritation
- Changes in size or shape of the breast or nipple
- Changes in skin texture or color such as redness or dimpling
- Nipples turning inward or producing discharge
- Peeling, scaly, or flaky skin
Can a Wellness Program Actually Aid in Early Detection of Breast Cancer?
While it's vital to educate employees on the signs and symptoms of breast cancer, it doesn’t always guarantee that they'll be successful in catching breast cancer early on.
Fortunately, employers have one valuable, cost-effective asset that can provide the resources that could make the biggest difference. Utilizing internal wellness tech to provide easily accessible information on breast cancer and integrate resources, pamphlets, health forms, and communications in one place has the power to meet employees exactly where they are. Not only can employees take preventive action right within the platform itself, but they also have on-demand access to whatever they need to stay healthy, happy, and informed.
But how can you ensure that your employees actually use these critical resources? One effective method involves incentivizing preventive care tasks. Coupling critical exams, vaccinations, and other healthy habits with personalized rewards makes early prevention and detection fun and engaging rather than a chore.
Here are some examples of breast cancer care tasks that can be incentivized through an employee wellness platform:
Clinical or Self-Led Breast Exams
According to the American Cancer Association, research doesn't correlate direct benefits to regular, dedicated breast examinations. Instead, most individuals often report feeling changes or symptoms during everyday life activities, such as bathing or dressing.
However, that doesn’t mean these exams should never be done, especially for individuals at higher-than-average risk. Regularly tracking clinical or self breast exams—either during Breast Cancer Awareness Month or any month throughout the year—will keep prevention top of mind when other screening methods may not be available right away.
Mammograms
While mammograms aren’t always 100% accurate, they’re often used in conjunction with other imaging or screening methods to help identify and diagnose breast cancer early on—potentially years before physical symptoms manifest.
In addition to matching scheduled mammograms to points and rewards, some organizations go the extra mile to make routine screenings as accessible, affordable, and accommodating as possible. For example, hiring a mobile mammogram truck is one way to ensure employees safely receive the benefits of breast healthcare wherever they are, whether at work, at home, or in their own communities.
Breast MRIs and Cancer Treatment
To support employees who are diagnosed with breast cancer and regularly receive treatment, employers can grant paid time off and additional accommodations for MRIs or follow-up procedures. Ensuring that paid leave is not deducted from other sick or vacation time is crucial in ensuring employees can freely and proactively put their wellbeing first with full backing from their organizations.
Beyond addressing the physical wellbeing of employees who receive a breast cancer diagnosis, it’s also vital for employers to address the mental/emotional, social, financial, and occupational impacts. Breast cancer affects the total wellbeing of an individual, which is why easily accessible mental health support, financial education and resources, and peer-to-peer support groups are crucial when caring for your employees.
Putting Early Detection and Intervention First
Employers have a responsibility to empower employee health and wellbeing, especially when it comes to early detection of breast cancer. However, getting employees to engage with their benefits isn’t always easy.
That’s where a personalized wellness partner comes in. To learn more about how to incorporate breast cancer awareness and detection into your corporate wellness program, don’t hesitate to reach out to our team.
